


A City in Flames

by KaskardenFluvia



Series: Burning Cities [1]
Category: Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Ancient Rome, Aziraphale is an idiot who doesn't understand that he's in love, Crowley is mad, Fire of Rome 64, Historical Inaccuracy, Historical References, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-29
Updated: 2018-10-29
Packaged: 2019-08-09 14:08:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16451420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KaskardenFluvia/pseuds/KaskardenFluvia
Summary: “Well, you see, the city I’ve called home for a good portion of the last millennium is currently being burned to the ground.” His voice was dripping with sarcasm, but even that couldn’t hide the bitterness underneath it. Aziraphale had never seen him this troubled by something.***Set in Rome, 64 AC





	A City in Flames

**Author's Note:**

> This is technically a prequel to "You'll always feel like home" but it can be read as a standalone. Enjoy!

Aziraphale watched Rome burn with slight discomfort. He had never really loved the city, it had always been too flashy for his liking, its citizens way too proud of its grand streets and marble-clad buildings. Still, it was a shame to see it being destroyed like this, the fire roaring, slowly eating its way through the city. It awoke unpleasant memories of another great city burning, one Aziraphale had loved so much more. He shook his head to get rid of the unwelcome memories and vaguely wondered where the demon was. He knew that Crawly, or ‘Crowley’ as he had taken up calling himself lately, was currently residing in Rome, having run into him on various occasions over the past decades. He looked over to the _palatium_ , wondering if Crowley was safely standing behind one of the countless windows, watching the city burn just as Aziraphale was doing. He knew that the demon was a close friend of Nero, one of his most trusted advisors even. (Albeit completely forgotten by history in the end.) Crowley had always loved Rome, surely he was helping the emperor in his efforts to get the fire under control.

Suddenly, he heard quick footsteps, like someone was running over the grass. He turned around and saw Crowley heading towards him, his face a mask with an expression Aziraphale couldn’t quite place, an emotion somewhere between concern and anger.

“Angel!” He shouted and Aziraphale raised his hand to greet him, but Crowley pulled him into a surprisingly tight embrace, slinging his arms around his neck. Aziraphale’s breath hitched in his throat and Crowley let go of him without giving him the change to react. The angel staggered back a step, his heart racing in his chest for a reason unknown to him.

“I’m glad to see you’re safe.” Crowley muttered, and for a second Aziraphale thought that he was blushing.

“It’s good to see you too, Crowley.” He stammered, noticing his unusually tight throat, coughing in an effort to clear it. “Are you alright?”

The demon had apparently lost the dark glasses he wore to hide his yellow eyes and Aziraphale could see that they were clouded with darkness.

“Of course I’m fine.” Crowley snapped, turning towards the burning city. “Why do you ask?”

Aziraphale got his breathing under control again, his throat finally working normally again.

“Oh, only because your hands are trembling, your eyes are _pitch-black_ and you’re radiating so much anger I can almost touch it.” He explained, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. Crowley nodded, pressing his lips into a heart line.

“Ohh, that.” He said, drawling out the words. “Well, you see, the city I’ve called home for a good portion of the last millennium is currently being burned to the ground.” His voice was dripping with sarcasm, but even that couldn’t hide the bitterness underneath it. Aziraphale had never seen him this troubled by something.

“This is more personal than that.” Aziraphale observed and Crowley turned towards him, raising an eyebrow.

“Is it?” He asked, and the angel shrugged.

“You’re angry the city is burning, of course you are.” He admitted. “But you’re also angry at someone in particular. I can feel that you’re anger is directed at someone.”

Crowley didn’t answer, just crossed his arms in front of his chest.

“Who are you so angry at?” Aziraphale asked, genuinely curious who had agitated the demon so much that his eyes started turning black. “The Christians? There are rumours spreading throughout the city that they laid the fire.”

“Nonsense.” Crowley huffed. “They don’t have it in them. And isn’t their whole new deal ‘Peace, Harmony and Forgiveness’?”

Aziraphale nodded wistfully, even though he had no clue if ‘Peace, Harmony and Forgiveness’ was really the Christians _new deal_. They were supposed to be on his side and he actually had been ordered to check on them, but so far they had proving mind-numbingly boring, so he hadn’t paid much attention to them the last few years.

“You’re not angry at me, are you?” He asked quietly. Crowley whipped his head around, staring at him out of his black eyes. 

“Why would I be angry at you?” He wanted to know, seemingly taken aback by the question. “You didn’t start the fire, did you?”

Aziraphale swallowed hard. A vision of Eve, holding his flaming sword in her small, _human_ hands, flashed before his eyes.

“No, of course not.” He said quickly and felt like a liar. Crowley mustered him for another second, before shaking his head and turning away again.

“If you really need to know, I’m angry at him.” He muttered, and jabbed his finger in the air, vaguely pointing in the direction of the _palatium._ Aziraphale raised an eyebrow.

“Nero?” He asked. “You don’t actually believe the rumours some idiots are spreading, do you? That he started the fire?”

“He might as well have.” Crowley hissed. Aziraphale frowned.

“But I always thought he loved the city? I heard that he rushed back from Ostia as soon as he heard the news.” He replied. Crowley let out a hollow chuckle.

“Indeed, he did.” He said, and suddenly turned towards him again. “And do you know what he’s doing right now? He’s standing in his grand palace, watching as the city burns around him, and instead of making an actual effort to stop the fire, he’s singing about _the destruction of Troy!_ ” By the end of his sentence he was screaming, his face twisting in anger.

“He should be managing the firefighting, not putting on a musical performance for _himself!_ ” Crowley shouted and Aziraphale stumbled backwards, the intense hate Crowley was emitting pushing him back.

“Calm down.” He pleaded, knowing that he might as well have asked the fire to stop burning.

“Not until that prick learns his lesson.” The demon hissed. Suddenly he straightened, pressing his lips into a tight line as he hurried past Aziraphale.

“Where are you going?” He asked, turning around, following the demon with his eyes.

“I’m going to kill him.” Crowley explained, surprisingly calm. He continued his path down the hill. Aziraphale ran after him.

“That’s a terrible idea!” He shouted. Crowley didn’t stop, Aziraphale falling into step beside him.

“You’re going to get yourself get discorporated if you try this alone.” He panted. Crowley didn’t look at him, his eyes fixed on the way ahead of them.

“You want to help?” He asked and Aziraphale stumbled over his own feet in surprise.

“Of course not, I’m an angel!” He exclaimed and saw Crowley roll his eyes at him.

“As if you’ve never killed someone before.” He muttered and Aziraphale winced. It was true, but it wasn’t one of his favourite topics to talk about.

“That’s besides the point.” He said, trying to keep up with the demon’s long strides. “The point is – Stop running for Heaven’s sake!” He interrupted himself and reached out, grabbing Crowley’s shoulder. The demon stopped dead in his tracks, whirling around to glare at Aziraphale.

“The point is – “ Aziraphale started again, panting. “That this will just lead to more chaos.”

Crowley stared at him angrily, but Aziraphale didn’t back down.

“What do you think will happen if you kill Nero now? If you just walk into the palace like _this?”_ He asked and gestured at Crowley, mainly his still blackened eyes. “It’ll just terrify everyone in there so much that they won’t be able to do anything about the fire.”

“Then I’ll do something about it.” Crowley growled and Aziraphale sighed.

“While that might work as a short-term solution, I highly doubt that it will work out in the long run.” He said, hesitantly putting a hand on Crowley’s arm. “Think about it, if you kill Nero, there will be struggle for the title of Emperor? Who do you think will organize the re-building of Rome if there is no Emperor to rule the Empire?”

“I could become – “ Crowley started but Aziraphale cut him off.

“You absolutely could not become Emperor.” He disagreed, lips involuntarily curling into a smile at the thought. “You would die of boredom.” The demon huffed, but Aziraphale felt his anger slowly subsiding.

“I know that you don’t want to hear this, but I’m afraid you just have to sit this one out.” He said, smiling apologetically. Crowley bit down on his bottom lip.

“I hate waiting.” He grumbled but didn’t object. His eyes started to lighten again, returning to their usual yellow colour.

“Well, Rome wasn’t built in a day either. You managed to wait that time. They are going to rebuilt it, you’ll see. And it’s going to be even grander than before. Everything will be fine, eventually.” Aziraphale said, trying his best to sound cheerful. Crowley sighed in response.

“I guess.” He finally muttered, his eyes back to their familiar bright yellow.  “I’m just sad to see it change.”

“Understandable. But that’s just how this world works. Things change.” Aziraphale answered and looked over at the burning city once again. When he returned his attention back to Crowley the demon was staring at him, an oddly fond expression on his face. They stared at each other in silence for a moment, before Crowley cleared his throat.

“See you around then.” He said. Aziraphale nodded awkwardly. Crowley nodded back and shuffled away.

“Crowley!” Aziraphale called out, following a strange impulse. The demon stopped and turned around.

“What?” He asked and Aziraphale realised that he actually didn’t have anything to say. His cheeks started growing hot.

“You still owe me dinner. From that one time in Jerusalem.” He finally manged to get out and a slight grin appeared on Crowley’s face.

“Once this city is rebuild, angel!” He shouted back and turned away again.

Aziraphale watched him disappear in the darkness, wondering why his heart felt like it was about to jump out of his chest.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this! I wanted to explore how they interacted before the Arrangement. I personally believe that they have been in love with each other since the beginning and were just too stupid to figure it out.  
> As always, I'm not a native English speaker, so if you find any mistakes, please point them out to me!


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